WORKED FOR ME. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PIECE IN THIS ISSUE? Oh my God . . . let's see. I'm sure I do. I feel like I'm going to do one of those parent things, where you like everything. I liked Richard Saja's work, who's a good friend of mine, who did the art for the Thomas Bernhard story ("Old Masters," page 157). I love the comic in the back ("The Secret Lives of Chefs," by Lisa Hanawalt, page 169) . . . I have no good answer, I like a lot of this.

THAT'S GOOD, THOUGH! Better than not liking any of it! In making it actually, Chang and Ying and I were in a horrible fight for all of December, because Chang thought it should be for chefs, not about chefs. And I kept trying to convince him that we were going to cover that and he didn't believe me, and then when we got a bunch of the stories together he was like [here he imitates a deep-voiced Chang], "Okay, I'm sorry you guys." Like with that Joe Beef piece, I really thought that if we wanted to talk about the dark side of cooking and make people not want to be cooks, lets try to deglamorize it. Everything about those Joe Beef guys is just horrible truth after horrible truth. They're fun people to hang out and drink with and I knew I could go hang out with them for two days and pull together some good stuff.

WHY DO YOU THINK COOKS AND CHEFS ARE SO FASCINATING TO PEOPLE, GREASE TRAPS AND ALL? I don't really have any good speculation about why there's interest. [pauses for a few moments] Oh man, I'm too far inside the bubble. . . . I mean, if you have the right way to tell a story, anything can be interesting. We have a lot more global stuff in this issue, and I think it's interesting because everybody's people. I think one of the major things this time around was to humanize it a little bit, which is why we had the interviews with cooks who just make food every day and have no desire to be a big-time chef. The appeal of chefs has become so competition-oriented and glossy and packaged and maybe divorced from some of the reality of what it is. So there was a very conscious effort to avoid that and focus on the challenging side of it. Is it interesting? I have no idea. I worry about that. It's really a hard thing.

I ALMOST FEEL LIKE THAT WHOLE TOUGH, "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK, I'M GOING TO COOK WHAT I'M GOING TO COOK" CHEF MENTALITY IS WHAT PEOPLE ARE DRAWN TO NOW, RATHER THAN THE GLOSSY FOOD NETWORK PERSONALITY, NO? PEOPLE WANT THAT EDGE. I think that really all started with Tony [Bourdain]. There is that younger generation of chefs in their early 30s — is that when you start getting noticed? It's just a changing-of-the-guard thing, and it doesn't necessarily mean that it's some big thought movement. Every once in awhile, the guards have to change because they get too old! [laughs] We tried to represent from both generations. Maybe the interest in celebrity-chef culture creates the possibility for an expanded dialogue for what kitchen life is really like, but I also feel like people think we're super macho about shit. It's not that, but I guess it comes across as that, so it is that? I don't know. I'm the least macho person you've ever met.

Two turtle doves Like a mug of hot cocoa after an afternoon of sledding, sometimes a good Christmas gift isn't quite complete without a second one that enhances the pleasures of the first.

Review: Artisan Bistro Pretending that the Artisan Bistro wasn't inside the Boston Common Ritz-Carlton, I would say this is a pretty good gastropub with an emphasis on food and unusually good service with a few old-school trimmings.

The Art of Eating turns 25 A recipe is a slippery creature. Understanding how to throw a certain combination of ingredients into a pot and make something edible is one thing. Truly feeling the intention behind it? That's another.

Review: Catalyst Restaurant So you have this very high-end chef, William Kovel, running a fancy hotel dining room, Aujourd'hui at the Four Seasons.

On the Cheap: Grillo's Pickles The only thing more fun than saying "pop-up pickle shop" is opening various pickle jars from said pickle shop on your desk and subsequently coating your hands in a pungent wash of spicy vinegar while you dig in. The keyboard, too.

Review: The Salty Pig A number of restaurants have failed in this odd multilevel space, stuck in a kind of cultural canyon between the Copley Place mall and the Tent City apartment complex.

DIY DRINKING: HOUSE-MADE INGREDIENTS ARE RAISING THE BAR | March 12, 2013 "When I moved to Boston," UpStairs on the Square bar manager Augusto Lino explains, "it was uncommon for bars to have anything house-made beyond a large container of vodka filled with pineapple on the back bar."

FRESH BLOOD: MEET BOSTON’S NEW CULINARY MUSCLE | February 21, 2013 Whether behind the line of a critically acclaimed kitchen, holed up in a basement pumping out some of the best nosh in the city, or braving Boston’s pothole-filled roads to bring you ass-kicking bites, these chefs are fast becoming ones to watch.

THE STEEP ASCENT OF TEA CUVÉE | February 13, 2013 We've all been told that once upon a time, angry Bostonians dumped three shiploads of English tea in the harbor to protest taxes, but let's be real here — it was probably just really shitty tea, and they were doing what any of us would do when continually plied with subpar beverage choices.